great opportunity to guarantee our water future and undo the damage to yosemite national park. >> sean, one point i know is the hydroelectric power generated by that dam, if i remember it's 41 million dollars? do i have my numbers right? >> there are a number of reasons why hetch hetchy is such a benefit to the city, not the least of which is that it produces carbon free public power to the city of san francisco. one of my favorite lines mike just used is this measure is about consolidating from 8 reservoirs to 7. another way to say that is to say this is about draining one of them, the hetch hetchy valley. have other studies said this is feasible? sure, just like tearing down city hall or knocking down the golden gate bridge, that's possible but not feasible. we're not going to spend 3

billion dollars to tear down the hetch hetchy dam. let's not forget, we are also stewards for two dozen cities in the peninsula. over 2 million californians benefit from the foresight of our forefathers almost 100 years ago in building hetch hetchy. while the rest of the state is tying themselves up in knots trying to figure out where to get their water. not only did we have the type of water storage hetch hetchy provides, not only today but in the future, we are in a solid place. and to spend this kind of money, and let's just talk about the $8 million dollars, i think that's one thing we can agree on. this calls for us to spend $8 million dollars. in my own district, out at like merced, we're taking that amount of money and building a

water recycling plant. mike wants us to take that money and waste it on a report. why would we want to spend money to redo what's already been done? >> i upd. that does bring up an interesting point as well with the infrastructure that was voted on and is almost complete. can you address that investment that's already been made. >> absolutely. >> and also with the state of california's report suggesting that 8 million wouldn't be enough to get a plan done. so if you could just address those two points that have come up. >> sure, let me start -- again, go to the report it says again 7 million is what's needed for san francisco to engage in the planning process. the larger amount is if we bring in the park service and the state of california, which at this point we don't need to do, we just need the san francisco public utilities commission to get off their butts and start to think about the future more effectively.

this really boils down it a 21st century versus the 20th century view of water. sean says our future is secure. it isn't. anyone who thinks our future water supply is going to be coming from the tuolome river is crazy. the one thing we know about climate change is we have to change our water sources. again, we don't recycle any water. we're going to start importing water from daly city next week. we have some plans on the books to do 4 million gals by 2035. that's a fraction. the san francisco business times recbltly said san francisco's plans for the future are baby steps and it's disgraceful. prop f is about getting us away from that vision and getting us to plan for the future. >> sean, as a wrap up, the

dollars that we're talking about here, whether it's a values debate, that's one thing, that's some of the language that i respect. but when i look at the dollars, i'm not sure, could you dra*e address how that the city and the controller's report? it seems to be a fairly vast effect. >> there's no question, this is a significant impact on the city but let's translate that for our viewers. it's an impact on the rate payers. this is not born by the city's budget, it's borne by everybody's monthly water bill. we know everybody's water bill is going to climb because we have to rebuild our sewer system. on top of that do we want to add many hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars to conduct a rate study that has been done several times that is going to completely drain the stoerplg capacity we have and

absolutely put the city further back tomorrow than where we are today? >> we're talking about lettinging the rate payers decide for themselves. it gives the rate payers the information they need in 2016 if it gets back on the ballot. the controller's report is actually quite inaccurate. it projects if prop f passes, a plan is implemented, adopted by the voters and hetch hetchy valley is restored that it will cost $10 billion dollars. that's not what people are voting on here. they are voting on prop f which is simply an $8 million dollar planning process. it's not just an $8 million planning process, it's voting for san francisco's future and i urge people to go to

restoreyosemite.org and read about it. >> this is a measure hoisted on san francisco by outsiders. every san francisco political group across the political spectrum opposes this measure. this will cost us billions of dollars and it's an unnecessary complete waste of our rate payer dollars. we've done the studies, we know it's a waste, let's move forward with what we're already doing which are significant recycled water projects across the city. >> thank you, gentlemen. we hope this discussion was informative. for more discussion on this and other ballot measures in this year's election, please visit the san francisco league of women voters web site at sfvotes.org. remember, early voting is available at city hall from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm if you don'

>> being a pedestrian in san francisco is not easy for anybody. >> [inaudible] people push tables and chairs outside the sidewalk. >> i have to be careful not to walk the sidewalk. it is very hard. >> sometimes people get half way across the intersection. >> you have to be alert because there is always something coming up that you need to know about. >> i learned to listen to the

traffic patterns. sometimes i notice the other pedestrians, they are crossing, on occasion, i have decided i'm going to cross, too. i get to the middle of the intersection, and i find out that the light has changed. >> we need to be able to work and go from one place to the other and have public transportation. the world needs to be open. >> people on disability has the task of addressing all the disability. when we are talk about the sidewalks, ramps, we have very specific issues. for people blind and low vision, we have the issue of knowing where they are and when

the cross. it can be hit or miss. >> at hulk and grove, that sound the the automatic -- it helps people cross the street safely. >> now we have a successful pedestrian signal. >> i push the button, i get an audible message letting me know that i need to wait. when it is safe to cross, not only am i going to get an audible indicator, this button is going to vibrate. so it tells me it is safe. there is the driller sound and this trigger is vibrating.

i am not relying on anything but the actual light change, the light cycle built into it. >> it brings san francisco from one of the major cities in the u.s. to what is going to be the lead city in the country. >> city working on all sorts of things. we are trying to be new and innovative and go beyond the ada says and make life more

successful for people. >> disability rights movement, the city has the overall legal obligation to manage and maintain the accessibility and right of way. with regards to the curb ramps, bounded by a groove border, 12-inch wide border. for people with low vision to get the same information. the shape of the domes, flush transition between the bolt bottom of the ramp and gutter. >> we have a beveled transition on the change in level, tape on the surfaces, temporary asphalt to fill in level changes, flush

transition to temporary wood platform and ramp down into the street under the scaffoldinging. detectable ramps. they are all detectable. nothing down below or protruding that people are going to get snagged up on. smooth clean that nobody is going get caught up on. >> our no. 1 issue is what we see here, the uplifting and shreufting to concrete due too street tree roots. here is another problem we have with street trees. if i have i was a person blind,

this would be an uncomfortable way to find out. >> we don't want to create hazards. >> sometimes vendors put sidewalk cafes where people push the chairs too far out. >> sometimes it can be impassable. so much foot traffic that there is no room for a wheelchair or walker to go by. >> san francisco is a lively street life, it can be an issue with people with visual disabilities as well. they have these diverting barriers on other side of this

tables and chairs area. if people can find thraeur way around it without getting tangled up, it is still fully accessible. >> we don't want anything special. we want people to basically adhere to the regulations and laws as they are on the books now. people can also, just be cognizant if they have stuff on the street, they thaoed to have 48 inches so we can pass, think outside your own spectrum of yourself that there are other people you need to share the sidewalk with. we will all get along better. >> although san francisco is a hilly place for a whraoel chair user, we seem to be better at

most. that doesn't mean we can't continue to improve upon ourselves. >> the public has a clear are -- of travel. we can't be every to make sure that is the place. we have to rely on the place. call 311. give them your name. that goes into a data base. >> it is difficult, still, um to make the case that the disabled community isn't being represented. in some ways we are not. we have a long way to go. >> the city of san francisco is using the most innovative technology available. these devices allow people to remain out in their communities, doing things like shopping.

it is great to be able to walk as a pedestrian in this city and cross streets safely. >> so again good morning everyone. i am ed risk. i am the transportation director in the great city of san francisco and it's my great pleasure and delight to welcome you today to a great celebration. what we're celebrating here is the partnership that many of you that are with us today that have gotten to this point. we are celebrating the fact that we have gotten to this point and the investments that will central sup way will bring to san francisco and what it means for this city and this region.

i can't tell you what an honor and privilege it is to serves as the transportation director in this great city. we ordered san francisco weather to deep the dust down and we are in a construction site and it's a great time for transportation across the nation largely because of some of the folks you will hear who are to my left and your right. it is also a great time to be in san francisco because we have leadership here in the city that are encouraging innovation, that recognize the importance of investment and infrastructure, and there is no better manifestation of that than this project and that prt is man manifested in a way that i can see no more strongly in our great mayor who have been been a public works director, a city administrator, and helped build the city's plan he really gets this stuff. he is really

engaged in this stuff. i don't think a week has come gone by that he hasn't asked me when this day is coming and it's a pleasure to introduce our mayor ed lee. >> thank you for your wonderful leadership. over 20-25 years ago when we were struggling with the earthquake, when people in chinatown said "gosh we're really going to suffer, and if we're going to be participating in our great economy in san francisco we have to find a way for better transportation routes to transfer people up north and down south of the city, and when we call ourselves a city as a transit first city there is no better example than that than what is reflected in the plans

for the central subway. this project is a vital enhancement of our public transportation system. it's going to significantly improve the movement of tens of thousands of franciscans and if you were here this past weekend when people were predicting it would be jam san francisco instead of san francisco you knew that folks were educated because of the great leadership at our mta, our county transportation, all of our transit systems and were at the highest level of educating the visitors and others to use public transportation. it will work for all of us and as we build the housing units we identified in hunter's point and treasure island and welcome more people to our great city and we are growing as a result. we are going to have the greatest subway system that can connect

to our bart, to our caltrans, to up and down our muni lines. this central subway will be a great success. it will connect to some of the most densely populated and rapidly developing areas, and it will improve access to all of our vibrant communities, and really is investments like this that will foster loyalty among all of our public transit customers while we reduce carbon emissions, make our city cleaner and cleaner. i'm not the only one that thinks this way. you know i'm among many, many friends today in the audience, on stage and i would like to invite at this time someone who has made it a practice to visit our city regularly, to make sure this project was being planned well,

that the initial funds that were granted to us by president obama and with the great work of our congressional delegates and speaker pelosi and senator feinstein we would make sure to use it in the right way and creating the jobs and the investment that people wanted to see. u.s. transportation secretary ray lahood. please share this announcement. >> hello san francisco. i am delighted to be here to celebrate with all of you three very important champions for this project. senator feinstein who doesn't often call me, but when she does i pay attention, and four years ago when i went to see her about a number of issues this project was number

one on her list. we need to get it done. we need to get a full funding grant agreement. she has been a champion for this project from the beginning going back -- i am sure she will tell you, i don't know how far. speaker pelosi, a champion for this project. [applause] speaker pelosi doesn't call me very often, but when she does it's always important. four years ago when i took this job i went to see the speaker. this was number one on her list. how do we get this project done? jackie spear a strong advocate for this project. you have three great champions, and i will also tell you that in working with senator boxer on the transportation bill this

project was always at the top of her list. [applause] so i am delighted to be here. i don't know of another place i would rather be, and i know that all of you are so thrilled with the opportunity that this will create. every one of you sitting out there deserves credit. you've all played a role in this in some way or another. this is not about you. it's about the people. it's also about the next generation of transportation for the next generation for san francisco. that's what this is about. this is your vision. it's a clear vision, and so i am delighted, and very proud to announce today $942 million to the san francisco -- [applause]

for the san francisco mta to extend the central subway light rail system from the downtown business district to chinatown. thousands of people will be enabled with good transportation as a result of this project. now, i have a long speech here but i'm going to stop because i know every one of these other people has more important things to say. thank you to the champions. congress women spears, speaker pelosi, senator feinstein and senator boxer you will well served in washington d c and the people will be well served by this project. thank you san francisco. >> secretary lahood. thank you very much for that wonderful

news. >> [inaudible] >> it's a really truly a great day for san francisco. great cities need great public transportation systems, and you know what? you know what makes our city great with all these leaders? they listen. they listen to our communities. they understand -- because for years our communities pleaded we need better transportation systems what makes our leaders so great they listen and they act. that is so wonderful. that is what standard that we have for all of our public officials. secretary lahood if you could thank president obama from all of us. yes. [applause] because i know today we're going to spend a lot of precious moments thanking leader pelosi

and congress women fine 79 and boxer and. >> >> we're going to thank all of our community members and from china town and all of them have worked very hard. these are not easy projects. they're very complicated and people had to work at the highest levels to make sure that every aspect worked, and a person who has worked tirelessly for 20 years and we join in celebrating 25 years of being in our congress and sought at every stage to make sure these funds were projected, to make sure we're doing our part, that congress is doing their part, all of the federal agencies, the person that first called me to share the news we're out of the white house and into the congress and

wait our magical 60 to 90 days and lees give a warm welcome leader nancy pelosi. [applause] >> who is also keeping track on the giants. >> you know mr. mayor i always listen attentively to every world you say but i know you want me to say it's the bottom of the ninth and one out and in a matter of minutes we have another cause for celebration and you said jam san francisco didn't happen last week. we may have another potential for this weekend as well. thank you mr. mayor for your kind words. thank you everyone for the role you played in making this important day possible. i am here with my son paul and he can attest to the fact we are part of the 30 stockton crowd. we used to take it downtown and we

would say "here comes the bus. there goes the bus". because it was always crowded mr. secretary. it would always be crowded and today is one things that contributes to the mobility of families, bringing people to work to play and improve their quality of life. secretary lahood has been one of the truest friends to san francisco. he has been a leader that has -- [applause] -- he has helped us make our case to the white house, to omb, and the rest. as we celebrate today we also have to recognize that this fits comfortably in an array of projects under his leadership as secretary of transportation and with the great leadership of president barack obama whether it was the

presidio park way, transway terminal, completion of third street rail and all of that. in recent years when he served in the congress and now as the secretary of transportation. he knows full well the role that senator boxer played and he was a member in congress of the transportation committee and the consensus she is building in the senate on this is quite remarkable so i am honored to be here with senator feinstein and our colleagues and share in this for san francisco and what you see here mr. secretary is consent. our great mayor lee -- he is the consensus maestro and brings people together and he said "listen, listen" and we act upon the consensus of our community. it's